perjantai, 10. syyskuuta 2010

Quill knobs vs. Intermuscular line

Lately Concavenator has caused quite a buzz among the dinosaur researchers. And there is no doubt that there is a lot to talk about regarding it's phylogenetic position and it's relationship and possible synonymy to Becklespinax. It now seems that the discussion has shifted focus to Concavenators quill knobs .
To give a brief summary (Ortega et al,2010) in their description of Concavenator noted series of small bony bumbs running in a single line on the ulna and proposed that these are homologous to quill knobs. Darren Naish and Mickey Mortimer came independently to the conclusion that instead of quill knobs the structure represents intermuscular line. And indeed looking at the Alligator forelimb musculature the line of knobs fits rather nicely between flexor ulnaris and the extensor carpi radialis brevis:


However let us not forget our feathered winged friends. If we are going to make conclusions based on muscular reconstruction, then we must also take into account the birdies
And here's a nice comparison modified from an excellent chart done by John Conway.



As you can see Birds simply do not have the large extensor carpi radialis brevis complex of crocodilians and the flexor ulnaris attachment area is above the mid line of the ulna.

So how should we reconstruct the musculature? It's problematic. Especially when we consider the locomotary difference between the two extant animals. Crocodilian with it's terrestrial/aquatic lifestyle, quadrupedality and postural diversity and in the other hand flying bipedal birds with heavily limited wrist motion. I tend to lean on birds due to closer relationship, locked radii&ulnae which would pose limitations to musculature and bipedal locomotion which provides similar pressures for forelimb musculature.

So it seems that the whole intermuscular line hypothesis isn't all that straightforward. In phylogenetic bracketing terms it's level II inference. It might or it might not be intermuscular line but that's depending on muscular reconstruction.

keskiviikko, 18. elokuuta 2010

Sketches: Microraptor gui

Ok one more. I swear I just discovered this one from my WIP folder. Didn't even remember that I had done this quick study of M. gui, but I really like it.

sunnuntai, 15. elokuuta 2010

Sketches: sphenosuchians




Something I did for my finnish paleo blog.
Dibothrosuchus and Pseudohesperosuchus. Not too happy about how Pseudohesperosuchus came out. Sigh, This is a third sketch post in a row. I think I need to find something to write about.

perjantai, 13. elokuuta 2010

Sketches: adorable and slightly creepy

And that is why you don't see anurognathids often depicted this way.

torstai, 12. elokuuta 2010

Sketches



I sketch all the time. way too often actually and at times when I really should be doing something else. I was originally thinking of starting another blog just for my sketches, but then I remembered that I have a blog that has remained inactive for far too long now. I think I'll start posting these sketches here. At least it will keep this blog active even when I have nothing smart or interesting to write about.




So here are the first ones. Anurognathus and Platecarpus that was originally done for my 'Platecarpus and its fluke' post. The platecarpus one was supposed to illustrate the facial scalation preserved in LACM 128319, but then I decided to leave it out.

Platecarpus and its fluke

Platecarpus tympaniticus (LACM 128319) in it's full glory. See high res version here


Paleontology is mostly bare bones, but on occasion we are treated with discovery of exceptional specimen that brings us that much closer on how the animal looked and lived when it was still alive. I love those specimens. To see a skin impression, or halo of feathers, or to see insect in amber and to realise that what you are seeing are details of an animal that once lived and breathed in this planet millions of years ago...it's simply amazing.

This time the treat is a mosasaur. A complete articulated specimen of Platecarpus tympaniticus from famous niobrara chalk formation that preserves possible remains of retina, numerous skin impressions (including parts of the facial scalation), cartilaginous rings that supported the windpipe, possible remains of internal organs, last meal (partially digested fish bones) and partial body outline. Amazing stuff. But what really got peoples attention was the tail.

The tail is distinctly kinked downward in similar fashion that is seen in other extinct marine reptiles like ichthyosaurs and thalattosuchian crocodiles. Not only that but the length pattern of individual vertebral bodies in the tail is typical for animals that have (dun dun dunh!) a two-lobed tail fluke.

Yes indeed, this animal had tail fluke. Now this isn't the first case of mosasaur with such thing to be reported. The first one was Plotosaurus. A very derived form, so the tail fluke in this animals was thought to be anomalous and typical for only this mosasaur. Now Platecarpus is more typical mosasaur indicating that two-lobed tail fluke is far more widely present among mosasaurids.

Furthermore this means that these mosasaurs were far better adapted to swimming than previously thought. Unfortunately we don't know the exact shape of the whole tail fluke. Apparently the outline was possibly present , but was destroyed before the preparator realised that there was soft tissue preserved.


It would be interesting to see how the tail vertebral metrics of mosasaurs match against some ichthyosaurs. Ichthyosaurs have pretty nice fossil record that documents the evolution of aquatic adaptations including the fluke, so comparison between Ichthyosaurs and mosasaurs could shed some light to how far mosasaurids got with this whole fluke thing, and perhaps give an indication of the fluke shape. Should be rather interesting indeed.

Ofcourse the cherry on top of this whole thing is the fact that it was published in PLOS.
Open access and high res photos. Awesome.

Lindgren J, Caldwell MW, Konishi T, Chiappe LM (2010) Convergent Evolution in Aquatic Tetrapods: Insights from an Exceptional Fossil Mosasaur. PLoS ONE 5(8): e11998. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011998


sunnuntai, 9. elokuuta 2009

vertebrata palasiatica 2009-1973 online

Issues of Vertebrata Palasiatica from 2009-1973 are now available at IVPP website.

If your chinese has gotten a bit rusty, you can use handy dandy babelfish translator.

It's not perfect but hey, atleast it provides some hilarity.

For example:

Liaoxi Yi County group parrot mouth dragon (bird buttocks item, ceratopsia) new material and stratigraphy significance